Starbucks coffee and convenience coming to Campus Square

Work begins this summer at Lehigh University’s Campus Square, where a Barnes & Noble Café, serving Starbucks coffees, will be added to the university bookstore. A convenience market will open in the space formerly occupied by Jazzman’s Café.
The additions will cap a yearlong planning process that began when Jazzman’s closed its doors last spring. When Lehigh bookstore manager Cosmo Olivieri pointed out to Mark Ironside, executive director of business services, that the Barnes & Noble Cafés had been quite successful in bookstores on other campuses, a new idea took hold: using the Jazzman’s locale for the bookstore’s convenience items, such as health and beauty items, cleaning supplies, beverages, snacks and toiletries, thus opening up space in the bookstore for a café serving Starbucks coffees.
“Barnes & Noble has added cafés serving Starbucks to other campuses, such as Boston University, Johns Hopkins, William and Mary, and University of Pennsylvania and they have been incredibly successful,” Olivieri said. “It will give us more room so we can offer the community more trade books, emblematic merchandise, dorm supplies, and, of course, the coffee they’ve been asking for.”
After agreeing to the initial plan, Lehigh and Barnes & Noble are busy hammering out details for the Campus Square renovations. In the meantime, the business services office is soliciting student suggestions for the name of the convenience market. Proposals may be sent to inbus@lehigh.edu; the winner will receive $500 in textbooks courtesy of the bookstore. Proposals will be accepted until a winner is selected.
Bagels, sandwiches, ice cream, books, coffee, and Lehigh merchandise will make Campus Square a strong, complementary group of businesses for students, faculty, staff, and members of the community.
John and Sarah Zohir are looking forward to seeing the business expansion at Campus Square. Recently, Johnny’s Bagels and Deli embarked on an expansion of their own by opening a third store on Rte. 191.
“Complementary businesses and more opportunities will have a beneficial impact on traffic,” said the Zohirs. “We are looking forward to serving more people in Lehigh Valley.”
Added Ironside: “People have been asking what has been taking so long. First and foremost, we knew Lehigh students wanted a café serving Starbucks, so we had to work through many different scenarios to make it happen.”
--Tom Durso